This invention relates to a toaster/oven accessory pan having a handle which facilitates its handling when hot.
Toaster/ovens can be used advantageously to cook small food items, such as eggs or French toast, through the provision of an accessory cooking container which accepts the small food items, fits into the toaster/oven, and is adapted to enhance cooking of the small food items by the toaster/oven. In copending application Ser. No. 11,329, Feb. 12, 1979, assigned to the same assignee as this application, there is disclosed a toaster/oven accessory cooking container which has a low-mass bottom pan fabricated of aluminum, wherein both the inside and outside surfaces are provided with a dark colored heat-absorptive release coating, preferably black Teflon. A cover for that toaster/oven accessory cooking container is also fabricated of aluminum with black Teflon applied to its inside and outside surfaces, and the cover may be provided with a heat-resistant glass window for admitting radiant heat energy during cooking and for monitoring the result of the cooking operation. The bottom pan has a flat peripheral flange bounded by a lip, and the cover has a flat flange which rests on the flange of the bottom pan in parallel facing relationship within the lip, which prevents the cover from sliding off the pan.
That toaster/oven accessory cooking container has several disadvantages. It is somewhat difficult to handle, particularly when hot. Also, the flat flanges of the bottom pan and cover, when formed of the low mass aluminum which is desirable to achieve the enhanced cooking function, are somewhat weak and prone to bending if abused. Further, the bottom and cover are different in structure and, therefore, require separate manufacture.